In general, in a construction machine such as an excavator, an engine hood is mounted on an engine room to be opened and closed by a gas spring so that an operator can check, repair, and replace components, such as an engine, a hydraulic pump, and various kinds of control valves, which are accommodated in the engine room. In this case, the engine hood is kept in an open state by means of a stay rod having both ends supported by the engine hood and a cowl frame, and thus an operator can check the hydraulic pump or the like in the engine room.
With the recent trend of matching combined functions of a construction machine, such as a small excavator, according to user demands to a middle excavator model, the total height of the machine is becoming heightened. In this case, if the engine hood is opened according to driving of the gas spring in order to repair the components in the engine room installed in the small excavator, the engine hood is automatically opened at the maximum angle according to a stroke of the gas spring regardless of an operator's intention. Due to this, it is not easy for an operator who has a general body shape to hold a handle of the engine hood that is opened at the maximum angle in order to close the engine hood. That is, it is difficult for the operator to close the engine hood of the small excavator after the operator finishes a specific repair work in a state where the engine hood is opened at the maximum angle.
The small excavator is so structured that the operator is unable to rise from the ground up to the excavator, and thus in order to close the engine hood that is opened at the maximum angle, it is required for the operator to rotate an upper swing structure by 90 degrees against a lower driving structure and then to go up a track of a traveling device to cause inconvenience to the operator.